Submitted by Collin Sutrick on the 2018 spring semester program in Limerick, Ireland…
This week, I had a nice conversation. In my class, Government and Politics of Ireland, we were split into groups in which we would come up with some part of the Irish government to reform. This project is something that we will be working on all semester, and we will be making a presentation for it to present in front of the class. While talking about what area of the Irish government we were going to create a reform plan for, we started talking about a comparison with the United States. We talked about Ireland’s direct provision program (the program set up for asylum seekers/immigrants while their application is being processed) and whether the United States makes asylum seekers and immigrants wait 6-10 years to have their applications processed. We also talked about the differences in the American and Irish education systems, as well as the standardized testing required. All in all, it was great to learn more about Ireland and it felt great to teach the Irish about America.
I didn’t realize it until after this conversation, but I do miss the United States a little bit. Talking about the United States felt great and made me remember what home is like. It will be nice to get a visit from family in early April.
This week the temperatures in Limerick dropped (it even snowed!!!), so I didn’t spend as much time outside in the beauty of nature. Which also means that nothing too exciting happened. However, I was chosen by the International Education Division to be an International Student Ambassador for the Spring semester! I will be able to participate in Instagram and Snapchat takeovers; talk to prospective international, Erasmus, and study abroad students; and write blogs to help out current and future international students at the University of Limerick. I’m excited that I can help out and give back to the school and the community.
I can’t believe what a special and amazing time it is to be in Ireland. The UN and UK have currently begun the second phase of Brexit negotiations. With Ireland being the only part of the UN that has a land border with the UK (Ireland and Northern Ireland), the negotiators for the UN are arguing for Ireland’s best interests. Studying Irish and UN politics here, I have heard quite a lot of the questions that people have about the whole Brexit situation. It’s interesting to hear the view of Brexit from a European. The main questions that the Irish have about Brexit include what to do about the Ireland-Northern Ireland border and how to deal with Irish-UK trade.